The Developmental Research Program (DRP) will provide seed funding to meritorious translational projects that have the potential for significantly advancing our ability to prevent, detect, diagnose, stage, or treat multiple myeloma. Project proposals will be selected in a rigorous, peer-reviewed, two-tiered process, starting with a once-yeariy request for applications that will be communicated to investigators at all three participafing institutions. In this first round, proposals will be limited to four pages, and required to assume the format of an NIH R01 applicafion, incorporafing specific aims, background and significance, preliminary studies, and research design and methods. These proposals will be reviewed by the DRP Director and Co- Director to identify those that meet the pre-specified eligibility criteria, and these will be invited to submit a full, ten-page applicafion, using the same format with the inclusion of a budget and justification. During this second fier, proposals will be reviewed by the DRP Review Committee, which will include Leaders and/or Co-Leaders of each of the SPORE Projects, Directors and/or Co-Directors of SPORE Cores, and at least four members of the External Scientific Advisory Board, and four members of the Internal Scientific Advisory Board. Up to four projects each year will be selected for funding and supported for one year, during which progress reports will be monitored every six months. Renewal of support may be possible for a second year, but will require the project to successfully compete with the next year's pool of proposals. Through this mechanism, the specific aims of the DRP are: 1. To support novel, highly translational research projects that take maximum advantage of the new research opportunities afforded by the SPORE; 2. To build and foster new collaborafions among scientists within SPOREs, or with scienfists outside the SPORE mechanism; and 3. To provide.scientific flexibility to the SPORE that will allow promofion of promising DRP projects to full Project status. Prior to the submission of this applicafion, the standard operating procedure outlined above was successfully tested, and led to the selection of several promising proposals to serve as examples of the types of projects that would be considered for support. Notably, these come from a diverse group of invesfigators interested in a variety of approaches with important translational implicafions, and support the future strength of the DRP.